There is an associated aspect of this important ethical dilemma which I believe we, as a society, are ignoring. I applaud Professor Raymond Tallis’s advocacy of the “secondary aim” of doctors — the reduction of suffering.

My mother’s death has been postponed three times in the past five years by medical intervention which was unavailable to an earlier generation. She suffers increasing levels of pain, discomfort, distress and miserable confusion. This suffering comes